Is Grace Hopper Worth the Hype?
by Fiona Whittington
Since I joined the tech community two years ago, I’ve always wanted to go to Grace Hopper. Like many of my friends, I was one of the many students that spammed my university computer science department, desperate for a ticket.
This past year, I was lucky enough to win a golden ticket by working at Red Hat and having the world’s most amazing boss (shout out to Jan Holzer).
Although attending Grace Hopper is a dream come true, there is a part of me that wonders whether this exclusive and expensive event was worth the hype.
The average budget for a student attending university in the United States to attend Grace Hopper is $1,320–1,740. An outrageous amount to expect any student to pay in addition to missing a week of school.
In my opinion, there are three benefits of attending Grace Hopper as a student:
- Increased access to jobs and opportunities
- Opportunity to build your professional network
- A lifetime of inspiration
So the question remains, is Grace Hopper worth the hype?
Again in my opinion (let’s keep everything in perspective), I think that Grace Hopper is most valuable for seniors in college or for individuals seeking employment. This is because the event’s focus is on recruiting, and most companies are looking to hire candidates for full-time roles.
Therefore, if you want to invest in buying a ticket and you are one of the lucky ones to actually get one, wait until you are a senior to attend to get the most out of the event! Don’t break the bank until you’re ready to bring in the paycheck because otherwise, I don’t think the event is worth the price.
If you are looking for alternatives to Grace Hopper, I recommend looking for local conferences, meetups, and hackathons to experience similar benefits to those of Grace Hopper. At these events, you will pay less and miss less school for the same benefits you would have gotten at Grace Hopper.
At this point, you’re probably thinking, Fiona why are you hating on such an incredible event? No, I’m not hating on Grace Hopper, I am still in full support of the mission of the event.
However, I just don’t think that freshman should waste any more of their time poring over Facebook begging people for a ticket because the frugal jew in me knows they could be spending their time and money on other (not better) events that are more accessible.
